Good Ol’ Review: A Captivating Nam Yoon Su Leads Resonant, Meaningful “Love in the Big City”

TYPE OF REVIEW : GOOD OL’ REVIEW
Very basic spoilers. Will not affect viewing experience.

Love in the Big City (대도시의 사랑법) is a groundbreaking and thoroughly engrossing series that delves into the complex journey of Go Yeong, a gay man navigating societal expectations, family pressures and the search for true love. Based on the novel of the same name by Sang Young Park, who also writes this eight episode adaptation, the series takes great care in presenting an engaging, relatable and enlightening portrait of a young man who is both unique and familiar at the same time. And it ultimately leaves a lasting impression, both on the viewer and hopefully on Korean entertainment media as well.

Love in the Big City is divided into four chapters, each with a pair of episodes to tell the story of seminal moments in Go Yeong’s 20s. We first meet Yeong (Nam Yoon Su) as a college student who develops a friendship with Mi Ae (Lee Soo Kyung). Though he has his three best friends (who are also gay) with whom he shares everything with in the middle of drinks and bar-hopping, Yeong finds comfort in his friendship with the rebellious Mi Ae as something like a platonic soulmate. This while he tries to deal with college life and beginning to care for his mother as she starts treatment for cancer.

Through this first chapter, we learn a lot about where Go Yeong is at this point in his life. And it serves as the perfect entry point into this slice of life journey for Go Yeong’s tumultuous, enlightening and formative 20s.

As Mi Ae settles down with her own family, Go Yeong is moving in the opposite direction. After years of Tinder hook-ups and flings, Yeong begins taking writing more seriously as a career and finds himself in more serious relationships to varying degrees of fleeting success and unfortunate disappointment. The most impactful relationships, as narrated by Go Yeong himself and immortalized in novels he writes, include one with a photographer (Kwon Hyuk) at a time when he is far from mature enough to be in a relationship, another one with a slightly older closeted man (Na Hyun Woo) he meets in an adult education class, a mysterious Japanese man he initially meets for a fling (Kim Won Joong) and finally Gyu Ho (Jin Ho Eun), a bartender and nursing student who could potentially be the love of his life.

With each of these relationships, including his complicated, but loving relationship with his dying mother (Oh Hyun Kyung), the series is able have Go Yeong be our grounded entry point to discussions of Korea’s conservative society and homophobia, the inherent pressures of Korean culture and the everyday struggles of young people.

Go Yeong faces the ups and downs, highs and low and yes, the literal ins and outs of relationships. It’s a relatable theme and the series offers an introspective and poignant look at it through Yeong’s unique perspective.

Go Yeong’s journey is marked by moments of heartbreak and happiness, self-discovery and personal growth. Yeong is a multi-faceted character. He is not without his faults. But he, like most people, is just trying to grow up and find his place in this ever-changing world. The relationships (whether they be romantic, friendship or family) he forms through these years inform how he attempts to navigate that bumpy road.

Love in the Big City takes a realistic and humble approach to these explorations, never sugarcoating the harsh realities of being queer in a conservative society. And really, just being young in a harsh world. The series highlights the emotional toll of societal judgment and the complexities of finding love (of others and of yourself) and belonging. Especially as Go Yeong learns he is HIV positive as well.

The series finds a fascinating balance of kinetic energy (fitting for its title and Seoul setting) and quiet tenderness. The story itself starts off with the more free-flowing college years of Yeong before more or less settling down for the more dramatic and tense moments of his later 20s.

It finds a perfect tone and pace, even as each pair of episodes tell separate, but obviously connected stories in Yeong’s life. Each pair of episodes is actually helmed by one of four different directors. And so each chapter feels like its own feature-length film. Though I watched all eight episodes over the course of a day, I think taking each pair of episodes (1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6 and finally 7 and 8) separately with breaks in between is the preferable experience. Each chapter truly leaves a lot to ponder and think about, while also raising the anticipation for learning more about the next chapter in Yeong’s life.

Yeong’s narration of these events power a poignant nostalgia throughout the episodes, further supporting the slice of life atmosphere of the story. Making you laugh and cry and fall in love, the series very much feels like you are taking a peek at just these moments in Yeong’s life while also knowing he is still young and has a lot of life left to live even after the final credits roll.

The four directors offer unique takes on Yeong’s life, but maintain the shared stunning and atmospheric visuals that more than enhance the narrative as well as performances.

Love in the Big City has a wonderfully talented ensemble cast that is a huge part of what makes the series so engaging.

Jung Chan Young, Do Yu and Lee Hyun So offer up the most fun as Go Yeong’s BFFs. Lee Soo Kyung as Mi Ae does a great job bringing to life a character who experiences almost both ends of the spectrum in terms of youth and maturity. And Oh Hyun Kyung also balances the complex emotions of Yeong’s mother toward him.

Kwon Hyuk, Na Hyun Woo, Kim Won Joong and most especially Jin Ho Eun effortlessly bring to life Yeong’s four, most meaningful romantic relationships. Each of their stories touch upon different aspects of living as a gay man in Korea. And the series successfully ties their respective stories together with Yeong’s own personal journey. These four actors effortlessly express the complicated emotions of their own characters while sharing undeniable chemistry with the star of our show.

And that is most certainly Nam Yoon Su as Go Yeong. Nam Yoon Su has given many great performances in supporting roles over the years, including his breakout role in Netflix’s Extracurricular. But he finally gets his well-deserved time to shine in the spotlight here. And Nam Yoon Su just absolutely delivers.

As Go Yeong, Nam Yoon Su delivers a perfectly nuanced performance that allows you to empathize with the character. But more importantly, he helps you understand Go Yeong, no matter your own background. Being able to express the complicated and complex emotions Yeong experiences through these eight episodes, Nam Yoon Su must carefully thread the needle while giving substance and depth to the character. There is a tightrope he must walk to prevent Go Yeong from being a mere caricature or from doing far too much so as to take you out of this fully realized world the series creates. And he is able to balance on that tightrope without any trouble. It is a legitimately captivating and at times, breathtaking performance.

There is no question that Nam Yoon Su also delivers a brave performance as Go Yeong. Him taking on the role of a gay, HIV-positive character has driven some controversy in Korea. (Actually, the series as a whole too.) But Nam Yoon Su (and the rest of the cast as well) has navigated the controversy with strength and grace. And his performance is one that will rightly and deservedly resonate.

And that is really the case for the series as a whole. The care, sincerity, honesty and heart that the series holds allows for this poignant and introspective look at love, identity and the search for happiness all the more impactful and resonant. It is definitely groundbreaking. But at its core, Love in the Big City is an profound, emotionally resonant, universally relatable and invaluably enlightening series that deserves to be experienced by as wide an audience as possible.